Self-compensating axle bearings - comprising conical seat of self-lubricating material in a spring loaded mounting

摘要

Bearings comprising pads with a seat for accepting the end of a rotating shaft and held in a guide or plate which is sprung to compensate for any wear but restricted mechanically from disengaging from the shaft. Pref. the pad has a conical or tapered bearing face with an axial hole for engaging a subsidiary alignment pin on the shaft end. Pref. the bearing material is filled with fibres such as carbon or glass or powders such as Cu or Ag and with solid lubricants such as MoS2, TiSe2, graphite, PTFE or polyimide. Pref. the nose of the shaft has hardened surface of W carbide, anodised Al, or of resin bound fibres or a surface coated with PTFE or with a metal or refractory oxide deposited by a plasma spray. For mfr. of bearings for low load/high speed or high load/low speed shafts to be used in e.g. space, radioactive environments or other conditions where maintenance is infrequent or impossible, where bearing fits must be sustained in spite of wear on relatively soft bearing surfaces and in spite of significant displacement forces e.g. during lift-off.